Transmitting or receiving blockchain information

Abstract

In some examples, an electronic device includes a non-transitory storage medium storing blockchain information, a processor to compute a secure representation of the blockchain information based on applying a cryptographic function to the blockchain information, and a transmitter to transmit a beacon comprising the secure representation of the blockchain information.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device comprising:
 a non-transitory storage medium storing a blockchain address; 
 a processor to compute a secure representation of the blockchain address based on applying a cryptographic function to the blockchain address, wherein the blockchain address comprises an identifier of an entity associated with the electronic device, and wherein the cryptographic function is a time-based cryptographic function that produces different secret values based on the blockchain address and respective different time values; and 
 a transmitter to transmit a beacon comprising the secure representation of the blockchain address. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is a constrained device. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the blockchain address is pre-configured in the electronic device or obtained from a remote source by the electronic device. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the non-transitory storage medium stores the blockchain address by storing an encrypted version of the blockchain address. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device of  claim 4 , wherein the processor is to retrieve the encrypted version of the blockchain address, decrypt the encrypted version of the blockchain address to obtain a decrypted blockchain address, and apply the cryptographic function to the decrypted blockchain address to produce the secure representation of the blockchain address. 
     
     
       6. A client device comprising:
 a receiver to receive a beacon from an electronic device, the beacon comprising information based on a blockchain address associated with an entity of the electronic device, wherein the information based on the blockchain address comprises a secret value derived based on applying a cryptographic function on the blockchain address and a time value; and 
 a processor to:
 send, to a server, a query comprising the information based on the blockchain address, wherein the query comprises the secret value; and 
 receive, from the server, response information responsive to the query, the response information relating to the electronic device. 
 
 
     
     
       7. The client device of  claim 6 , wherein the blockchain address comprises an identifier of the entity associated with the electronic device. 
     
     
       8. The client device of  claim 6 , wherein the processor is to receive the response information from the server responsive to the server determining that the client device is authorized to receive the response information. 
     
     
       9. The client device of  claim 6 , wherein the server is a smart contract manager to enforce a smart contract among a plurality of entities, the plurality of entities comprising a first entity associated with the client device, and a second entity that manages information sought by the client device. 
     
     
       10. A server comprising:
 a network interface to communicate with a client device; and 
 a processor to:
 receive a query comprising a secret value derived from applying a cryptographic function on a blockchain address of an entity associated with an electronic device that transmitted the blockchain address to the client device, wherein the blockchain address comprises an identifier of the entity associated with the electronic device; 
 obtain the blockchain address of the entity associated with the electronic device in response to the secret value; 
 determine, according to the obtained blockchain address, whether the client device is authorized to receive response information responsive to the query, the response information relating to the electronic device; 
 in response to determining that the client device is authorized to receive the response information, send the response information to the client device; 
 detect unauthorized use of the secret value based on the blockchain address of the entity associated with the electronic device, wherein the detecting of the unauthorized use comprises at least one selected from among:
 detecting reuse of the secret value based on the blockchain address of the entity associated with the electronic device that has previously been used, 
 detecting that the secret value based on the blockchain address of the entity associated with the electronic device is used outside a specified time range, or 
 detecting that the secret value based on the blockchain address of the entity associated with the electronic device is used outside a specified location; and 
 
 take a security action responsive to the detecting. 
 
 
     
     
       11. The server of  claim 10 , wherein the determining is based on a smart contract applicable for the client device. 
     
     
       12. The server of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a blockchain node to:
 send a request to a blockchain to obtain the response information or to a distributed storage system to obtain the response information, and 
 create a new block of the blockchain to store further transaction information. 
 
 
     
     
       13. The server of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is to:
 obtain the response information based on the blockchain address of the entity associated with the electronic device prior to sending the response information to the client device. 
 
     
     
       14. The server of  claim 13 , wherein the obtaining of the blockchain address of the entity associated with the electronic device in response to the secret value is based on use of a mapping between different secret values and corresponding blockchain addresses. 
     
     
       15. The server of  claim 14 , wherein the mapping comprises a lookup data structure comprising entries, each entry of the entries mapping a corresponding secret value to a respective blockchain address. 
     
     
       16. The server of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is to:
 obtain the response information based on a smart contract among a plurality of entities, the plurality of entities comprising a first entity associated with the client device, and a second entity that manages information sought by the client device, wherein the smart contract is identified based on the blockchain address and an identifier of an entity associated with the client device. 
 
     
     
       17. The server of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is to interact with a network-based identity server to obtain the smart contract, the processor to send the blockchain address and the identifier of the entity associated with the client device to the network-based identity server to cause the network-based identity server to identify the smart contract.